(a) When an abandoned or junked motor vehicle is removed by village agents or officers or their agents from private property at the request of the owner, lessee or occupant thereof, the person at whose request such vehicle is removed shall be required to pay or otherwise indemnify the village for any expenses incurred by reason of the removal and/or storage of such vehicle.
(b) The owner of any vehicle removed pursuant to this division from any public street or highway or from any property owned by the village or any private property shall pay to the village all reasonable costs incidental to the removal and storage of such vehicle and the location of the owner thereof and if such costs have already been paid by a property owner, the costs may be reimbursed to the property owner by the village upon receipt.
(c) Written notice of each removal of any abandoned or junked vehicle and of the possible sale or disposition thereof shall be given as promptly as possible to the owner thereof at the owner's last known address according to the latest registration certificate of title on file with the state division of motor vehicles or the village police office and shall describe the vehicle, place of storage and procedure for recovery thereof.
(d) Notice need not be given to the registered owner when the vehicle does not display a license plate or a valid village registration certificate.
(e) Any time that an abandoned or junked vehicle shall be removed to a place of storage, the village shall collect the currently required towing fee and the currently required daily storage fee. Any owner shall have the right to a prompt hearing to determine whether the vehicle was abandoned or junked within the village in order to contest the towing and/or storage. The hearing shall be heard by the village manager who shall determine by preponderance of the evidence as to whether the same was in fact abandoned or junked. The right of appeal from such decision shall be to the district county for the county. At the conclusion of the hearing the village manager shall render his decision. The decision shall be further reduced to writing and forwarded to the owner or other individual seeking such hearing. Upon the mailing of the notice of decision by the village council, the owner or other individual seeking a hearing shall be entitled to appeal to the district court for the county by giving due notice of appeal within ten days of the date that the notice of the village manager's decision shall have been mailed to the individual appealing. Pending any hearing or appeal in this division, the owner or other individual may obtain a release of the vehicle at any time after the towing and/or storage fee is paid or by posting a bond with the village in the form of cash in the amount of the towing and/or storage fees. Unless the cash bond shall be paid, storage fees shall continue to accrue pending resolution of the appeal.
Ord. No. 37, § 4, 9-18-1993; Ord. No. 2013-0501, 5-17-2013)